Why is Walmart taking away their craft dept? I was saddened to go into the store on Saturday to get some Christmas fabric and wool and to my dismay the fabrics were gone. No buttons, no thread, no patterns, no notions, etc etc. The wool is going soon. The media is telling us to save our money or recycle and then when you want to sew they take it away. It's a shame. If the square foot in the store is not paying out it goes.
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
I also enjoyed the sewing and craft dept at our local Wal-Mart but when they remodeled and put in the grocery area it went out the door! But not all of the Wal-Mart's have rid them selves of the sewing and craft area. Call around and you may find one but it is farther away. I have to drive about 15 miles further if I want to get my stuff from there, the fabric store is now a closer option.
That is exactly the point. If there is a fabric store with in 20 miles of the walmart, it will soon be losing its fabric items. I work at Walmart, and we lost ours when we were remodeled this year.
When a super center comes in the fabric dept. goes out in walmarts. They are all closing slowly. A petition was going around 2 years ago via www to stop them from leaving in your own area but it failed. I signed it myself and it had thousands of names on it for the eastern states but it did no good.
Only the older walmarts that are not super centers still have them and they actually have a really good supply of prints to choose from. Walmart is taking over everywhere and while its a great place to buy and save, it is slowly squezzing out the little guy "the mom & pop stores that cannot compete". Even alot of Hancock fabrics are closing. You only seem to find those in the larger cities. Try searching for FABRIC OUTLETS in your area or near you. I am now driving to outer locations around me in any direction of 30 miles or so to get my fabrics needed, which include non super center walmarts, ben franklin craft stores, and fabric outlets.
I do seamstress work so I am always searching for fabrics. Ebay offers lots of fabrics but I suggest you search well before you buy there to get the best deals. Sometimes its cheaper to use extra gas to drive to a location to buy them and try to get what you will need for future projects to save. Some of the fabric outlets will include you on there news flyer and send you discount coupons. Hancock fabrics does that too.
Hmm - I went to my local supercenter Walmart last week looking for some craft supplies. They didn't have anything of what I needed and I have always been able to get my craft supplies there.
A Great Big THANK YOU to Patricia for the question. When shopping at our towns Supercenter, they had a lot of expensive yarns marked way down and I was wondering why. Then it dawned on me that the craft, fabric and notions area had gotten smaller! They are so sneakey. I am going tomorrow to pick up everything I need for my Christmas projects. This really ticks me off!
Jeppers, they keep changing WalMart and not for the better. Lots of items disappearing. I just hate the way the move stuff around so you have to hunt and search.
I also was upset when Walmart ditched the fabric and crafts. We live in Chattanooga and most of the fabric is gone. We have 1 tore up Hancocks with no help and that is it except a quilt shop with very expensive fabric. I have tried getting JoAnns attention but to no avail. Guess sewing is not a profitable business for the merchants. I do alot of sewing for charity and people know that and give me their fabric they no longer want. Wish I knew the answer.
That's good to know. Soon I won't have any reason to visit WalMart. That is so frustrating.
I heard about 1 yr. ago this was going to happen and people wrote in to Walmart but it did no good. We just got a new super center Walmart in our small town and I went looking for yarn and found very little and there is no sewing section. It makes me mad I know a lot of people who sew or do needlework and now we have no place to go and have it be reasonable as well. What is wrong with Walmart? Shame on them!
They just closed out the fabric department in my hometown and I hate it. I have to drive 45 miles to get thread or buttons. I live in an area where quilting is king, a quilt convention is held here every april. I also do alterations (brides maids dresses, wedding dresses) and it's really put a cramp in my business cause now I have to drive 90 miles round trip if I need anything.
We have 5 WM supercenters in our city and another 3 nearby, only one has VERY limited fabric. The downfall is that years ago when WM added fabric they put smaller fabric stores out of business and now there is nobody left to pick up that slack. The frustrating part is in rural areas, like where I'm from, now have to drive up to 150 miles to find a fabric store! I called and wrote WM when I heard about the remodeling change, obviously to no avail!
I am from Western KY and our Walmart SuperCenter has a great craft/fabric section. I'm not sure why the others that you all are talking about is going down to nothing. It seems that our Craft/Fabric section has grown.
The Walmart I work at (N. Indiana) still has a large fabric department, but two new stores that have opened nearby do not. The reason? Theft. Last year our fabric and craft department had a 19% loss. Anything over 1% is bad. I think these dishonest crafters rationalize their theft by saying "Oh, I'm stealing from big bad Walmart. I'm not hurting anybody." Yes, you are hurting the employees who work there and are struggling, too. They will get lower raises and smaller or nonexistent bonuses because of theft.
Also, for everyone's urging to shop and eat at local mom and pop's, not enough people do. (I include myself in this.) Why? Chain stores and restaurants are cheaper and have a better selection. Yes, I would love to support local businesses, but I cannot afford to pay double the price of what Walmart, Save-a-lot or Barnes and Noble charge.
If you really want to save money (and the planet), shop thrift stores. I get tons of fabric there very cheaply. Also look for table cloths, sheets, pillow cases, large sized clothing to cut up, etc. You get a deal, the money goes to a good cause and you've kept a usable item from going to the landfill. It's a win-win situation.
I live close enough to Brandon, Mb, Canada to shop at the Walmart there, and so far we still have our fabric and craft section. BUT my sister-in-law live outside of Saskatoon Sk and both of their super centres DO NOT have the fabric section. I'm not sure about their craft and wool section. So kudos to Patricia for asking that question.
I get most of my fabric from walmart because it is cheaper than most places and all of my friends do to. shutting this department down is a HORRIBLE idea. Walmart makes money off of it I'm sure, so why stop doing something that you get money from?
This is very distressing. Like everyone else, I sew, knit, crochet, quilt, and l do a lot of other crafts. That dept. is, frankly, one of the only reasons I shop the store. You can shop yarn online, but what if I don't want 15 skeins at a time. In light of today's economic crisis, it seems to me a logical choice for Walmart to keep that important section going. There will be a lot more home sewing going on. And as far as I can tell, there was always a customer at the fabric cutting table.
I'm low income. The one place I could get some fabric to sew. I will really appreciate if you could bring it back. I know you can't
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
